A Pup Is NOT A Toy Public Service Initiative

[two_girls]

After losing an eight-week old Golden Retriever puppy, named 'Monty,' in a tragic incident involving injuries caused by a 10 year old neighbor, here in the Lakes Region on Half Moon Lake in Alton, an initiative has been established to educate children and their parents in the treatment of 'baby' puppies.

A Web site (with an accompanying blog), http://www.pup-not-a-toy.com/ is already up and running though it is still in its early stages. A Facebook page, accessible from the Web site, is also available and already has 'members.' You can read about Monty and see pictures of him on the Web site.

Given that there is a writer in the family, it is anticipated that a 'A Pup Is NOT A Toy' book will be available sometime in the future.

Here is some history of how this happened for those who have asked.
This tragedy happened with both adults there and the parent of the child who caused the irreparable injury. I was on the beach speaking to a parent, my husband was in the lake talking with the parent of the child who caused the death of our pup. Our two children were there as well. The child took the pup into the water and dropped it in the water (squirming all the time) andthe pup was forced to swim to shore. I looked up just in time to see the puppy being dropped into the water and start swimming at which time I ran into the water to get the pup and tell the child that we do not take a puppy into the water without asking us (the owners). I had only looked away for a few brief seconds. If you have children or pets we all know what can happen in those few precious seconds. Obviously we did not expect this to happen, we do take responsibility, however, if this child had been educated on the handling of pups this tragedy could have possibly been prevented. The child was a 10 y/o girl who is a neighbor and goes to school with my children. We later found out that this child had no experience with dogs. With this being the case this child should not have been near this puppy to begin with. There are arguments that could trail in all directions with this, however we are not here to argue, we are here to educate so this does not happen again. Thank you.

To promote this initiative 'A Pup Is NOT A Toy' bumper stickers have been produced and are available through the Website at no cost. The only request is that the stickers are displayed for others to see, since the goal is to spread the message that a pup is not a stuffed toy or a beach ball.

A primary goal is to make sure that kids of all ages know that they should never pick up a pup that is not their own without asking the owner. Young puppies can be easily hurt if picked up improperly. This is basically what this initiative is all about. Just as kids are taught not to talk to strangers, they should also learn that young puppies, though awfully cute and playful, are very delicate and are definitely not toys.

This is a self-funded initiative. Resources will be provided to help get the message out. If you want to get involved in any way visit the Web site or Facebook. The bottom line is to avoid the type of fatal injury sustained by Monty.


9/28/2011 "A Pup Is NOT A Toy" book is now available, just go to http://www.pup-not-a-toy.com/, to find out how you can purchase one. We are not making lots of money on these, but what we do make goes into our fund to help promote this cause. Thank you.